Monday, August 29, 2011

I know most of us are just starting or getting ready for the back to school mode but today I wanted to share with you a really cute (and very easy!) trick or treat bag. Halloween seems like a ways off yet, but before you know it will be putting out decorations and getting costumes together so why not have the treat bags ready to go early?!

Isn't it adorable? And it is so easy - all you need is a canvas bag, a portion of one panel of fabric and some Heat-n-Bond. As you can see from the photo of the fabric panel below you could actually make nine of these bags (and still have five smaller squares for other projects!) from the single panel. The hardest part of the project would be deciding which panel is your favorite.

The best part- there is no sewing required. We simply used the Heat-n-Bond iron on adhesive to adhere the fabric square we trimmed from the larger panel to the canvas bag.

You can find all the supplies for this project and also check out the entire line of KI inspired Halloween fabrics (which are just as cute) in our fabric department.

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

The past few weeks the ladies in our Paper Crafts department have been busy putting out all the new lines that have been arriving from CHA summer. Since I'm super excited about all of them- and am always asking them "what came in today"- I thought I would share some of the new lines here too.

The line I'm probably most excited about is the Amy Tangerine line by American Crafts. Lots of fun embellishments, double sided pattern paper, and even some more of the fabric paper!We have two new lines by Simple Stories that came in. A Birthday Line and this adorable Baby Steps line:
The new Pebbles Fresh Goods line. I'm loving those butterflies!
And yes...even some new Christmas paper is arriving already. This is a mix of the Pebbles Welcome Christmas and American Crafts Holly Day lines:
Just in time for all those back to school photos we have this new school line by Imaginisce:
And finally another line I'm really impressed with- the American Crafts Nightfall line. A perfect mix of Fall and Halloween with papers that can be used separately for the themes or even nicely together.
Of course this is just a sampling of all the new things we have gotten in lately - and even this morning I saw another cart getting ready to be put out on the shelves (the Echo Park Happy Days line!)- so be sure to stop in and check out all the new products for yourself!

Monday, August 15, 2011

Our floral department has been busy updating their samples and project ideas!! We now have a wall full of new ideas, in a variety of colors and themes, set up in aisle 1. Here are photos of some of the samples they have created...

Stop by our floral department to see even more samples, and to pick up recipe cards for any of the projects you see here.

Thursday, August 11, 2011

I am so excited to announce the addition of a new class to our August class calendar!! On Monday, August 22nd we will be offering our first Copic Card Class. Come join our instructor Heather as she teaches you the basics of Copic markers, some blending techniques to get you started and some other tricks and techniques to using these markers. To utilize what you learn in class you will be making the three cards shown above. Now is your chance to learn how to use these markers that will take your coloring to a whole new level!

Please stop in or call to pre-register for this class. More information about this class can be found here and as always our full class calendar is posted on our website.

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Last week our coffee shop underwent a bit of a remodel! We have expanded the space of the coffee shop, created a wall for a little more privacy while your dining, and my favorite part...added booths to make your time at the coffee shop even more comfortable.

Whether you are picking up a coffee or a snack before or after shopping or just stopping for one of our delicious sandwiches our coffee shop is now set up to serve you better.

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

I wanted to share a few photos today of a new product line called Urban Soul that we recently added to our Willow Tree room in the front of the store. From wall hangings, to magnets and photo holders this line has something for everyone. And the messages on all of their products are fitting for anyone from your child, to a parent or a friend.

Monday, August 8, 2011

Today I wanted to share with all of you a really fun project we have featured in the store right now!! Check out these Redneck Wine Glasses...aren't they great!?

Created simply by gluing a jar to a candlestick these could be a fun project or gift for so many occasions. Of course you can leave it simple with just a jar and the candlestick, but you can also personalize them a bit more by adding beads, painting them, adding vinyl to them...or whatever else you can think of.

We also have created for you some really cute Redneck Wine Glass tags (that you can find HERE) so you can attach them to the wineglasses when giving them as a gift.

A complete project sheet with supplies and directions as well as a instructional video can be found HERE.

You can find some completed samples and all the supplies you need to create your own on our front endcap between aisles 21&22.

Monday, August 1, 2011

And now for the Crafts Direct gift card winners...yes WINNERS. Because we received over 100 comments on the Dog Days of Summer blog posts over the past two weeks we are not only going to give away one $20 gift card to Crafts Direct but TWO!

I used a random number generator to select two winners from the 138 comments and our two winners are:

Thanks again everyone for stopping by and commenting on all the Dog Days of Summer projects- I had so much fun sharing them all with you. And remember even though this project series is done I will be regularly updating the blog with additional projects and product information from the store. so check back often.

Location

Welcome to the Crafts Direct blog! Employees to give you access to project ideas, fun activities going on at our store, and mostly just things we are really excited about in the crafting world! We are located in Waite Park, MN which is in the St. Cloud area. Click here for a map.